Dammit! Where's My Shot Gun!

Like everyday when I get home from work I wander out to the garden to check on my babies. I made my way to the Summer squash bed to check and see if the first yellow crookneck of the season was ready to pick today. This is how it looked on Tuesday...

 And this is what I found today....

Click on photo for a larger view

Now, I know in about 3 weeks time I will be begging the squirrels to eat the squash because I planted way more than two people can eat. But dammit, don't take the first one of the season!

Oh and they also like male squash blooms....

End of July Garden Review

There is something about July where I just don't feel like posting. Same thing happened last year. I know it's not the heat because we are not having any. The temps have been in the 70's for the last two weeks.

The garden this year is not doing as well as I had hoped for. The cucumbers are only putting out one or two cucumbers at a time and the plants are really small. The mini bell peppers are loaded with fruit but are taking a long time to ripen (they're red and yellow). The full size bell peppers only have two or three per plant but are still pushing out blooms. The crookneck squash just can't seem to get the timing of male and female blooms right. I get all male or all female. I'm having to pick male blooms and put them in the refrigerator until I get female blooms and then hand pollinate (Thanks Granny).

As for the tomatoes, the brandywine has no flavor but I did hear they do better in areas with high humidity which we don't have. The Cherry and the Roma's on the other hand are doing well. Loads of fruit but are taking their sweet time ripening. Early potato yields were very low and the main season potato plants died off early. I haven't dug around to see if there are any potatoes in that bin. As for the mid season potatoes they seem to be doing better than the others. I'll let them go until Sept as I'm getting a second wave of vines and flowers on them. The sweet potatoes are looking good but what do I know, it's my first year growing them.

The acorn squash has one nine inch fruit on it and a few smaller ones. I don't think I will get more than three or four out if this one plant which is OK with me. Again my first year growing them. I think I will grow them again next year. Bush bean did OK but now that I have grown pole beans I don't think I will waste the space with bush beans. I'm harvesting one to two pounds of pole beans every two to three days with about 20 plants. I'm having to freeze them since there is just the two of us we can't eat through them fast enough. I'm giving away some to my sister and mother.

Garlic was a bust for me this year but my onions are bigger this year than last year. I still have not pulled them but will most likely do so tomorrow as they are not putting on any more size. There are onion fields not far from where I work. I can always tell when it's harvest time as the air is filled with the scent of onions. That time was about two or three weeks ago... I think :-)

Since the weather has been so cool I think I will try a late season sowing of lettuce. I will only have sun on my bed for another three months so I might as well give it a try. I have some carrots planted but think I will plant some more.

The Haven Garden is doing well and looking great. VISA had a team of volunteers build us four raised beds for the expanded garden I planned out earlier this year. As soon as VISA gives me permission to use the photos I took I will update the Haven Blog. If you have not yet signed up to be a follower be sure to stop by and do so. I have a few more plans I'd like to put in place but don't know if they will happen this year.

Below are some random photos I took on July 24th. Be sure to click on them for a larger view.

Sunny and Hot

What a beautiful day. I gave everything a good soak this morning before it got too hot. It reached 90 degrees this afternoon in my yard. I also took some photos of the garden while it was still shady.

Click on photos for a larger view.

Photos below: From the roof.












Photos below: The tomato bed is looking like a jungle.



It won't be long now....

Photos below: Bed 2. I pulled out the last of the broccoli and planted 2 butternut squash and 1 zucchini to fill in the bed. The cucumbers are not as far along as this time last year mostly due to the weather. I also started with smaller plants. I started my seeds in the green house a month later than the year before. I think I will go back to starting them in January.

Photo below: Bed 3. Bell peppers in the front of the bed.



Photos below: Bush beans in bed 3.





Photo below: Basil



Photo below: Carrots



Photo below: Crookneck squash.

Photo below: Zucchini

Photo below: Bed 4 baby bell peppers.

Photo below: The pole beans in bed 4 are outgrowing their trellis.

Photo below: The onions are finally bulbing up.

Photo below: My first baby bell pepper.



Photo below: Bed 5. We fixed the trellis today. We had to pull it off the old fence before they took it down . Sweet Husband secured it to the new fence and I weaved the acorn squash through it and planted a cucumber in place of the acorn squash that was pulled up during the rebuild.

Photo below: Acorn squash.

Photo below: The sweet potatoes are doing really well.

Photo below: Strawberry bed.

Photo below: Now that the weather is warming up the ginger is starting to grow.

Photo below: Banana

Photo below: Sunflower

This years garden got off to a slow start with the cooler than normal Spring. But overall I think it's doing well.